Where all roads meet
by Whimsicalscrawls
Summary: A part of Midoriko's soul was sealed away in the Shikon. The jewel is passed on to Midoriko's vessel, a miko who is the heir to her lingering soul. Twelve miko had come and gone,and now it's up to the thirteenth to banish the jewel forever. How will the young girl fare in her cursed path? And how is her lonely childhood tangled with the dark past of a powerful demon? SessXOC, AU.
1. Prelude

_**Summary:**__ A part of the priestess Midoriko's soul was sealed away in the Shikon no-tama. Her incomplete soul lingers, unable to cross over to the afterlife, unable to be reborn, forever bound to the narrow bridge that separates this world from the next. The jewel is passed on to a miko who is Midoriko's vessel, a priestess who was heir to her remaining soul. Twelve priestesses had come and gone, and now it is up to the thirteenth to banish the jewel forever from this world. Will the young woman be able to fulfill her destiny, as her life is turned upside down by sudden revelations? How will she fare, in her path filled with nothing but pain and loss? And how is her lonely childhood tangled with the dark and bloody past of a cold, powerful demon? A story of shared childhoods, broken pasts and the unbreakable bonds of love and loyalty. A Inuyasha fanfic. Alternate universe._

_:_

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters recognizable from the show. What I do own is the plot of this story and any oc that pops up. Enjoy reading!

_**...****Where all roads meet****...**_

* * *

.

_**Prelude**_

Hisane knew she had very little time left….

The car skidded unsteadily through treacherous mountain roads of Kanazawa, slippery due to recent snow. It was still snowing; small white flakes danced their way slowly onto the waiting earth like feathers fallen from an angel's wings.

Hisane wrapped her tired hands around her little daughter, sound asleep on her lap, and held her close. Her eyelids strained to stay above her pupils. Pain burnt her insides as if she was on fire. Blood trickled slowly down the corner of her mouth, leaving a crimson streak down her chin. The car gave a skid and she tightened the grip around her child, afraid she might fall off. The patch of road visible through the windshield was getting in and out of focus. The yellow glow of the streetlights diffused across the melancholy road, throwing alternate band of darkness and light across her tired, frail body.

This was it; the fate she had been trying to elude had finally caught up to her. She was going to die. Powerless, alone, unable to protect what was precious…Such a pathetic way to die, she thought. But she deserved it. She deserved the worst death possible. It was her fault…It was all her fault…

Trying to keep awake, she moved her head strenuously, focusing through blurred vision on a beloved face.

Bright green eyes unfocused, head cocked towards her, he was buckled up to the driver's seat. A deep gash slashed across his chest and stained his clothes a deep red. With each swerve of the car, his lifeless body shook; a puppet attached to the hands of an inept puppeteer. Hisane stared at him numbly, an odd ringing in her ears.

She willed it to disappear, the dreadful illusion, and when it didn't, her mind drifted from her body and floated.

He's dead, her brain repeated over and over again, he's dead he's dead he's dead…

It was all just a bad dream, and when she woke up, he'd be next to her, and he'd laugh that bright, jovial laugh that melted her heart, and then look at her with such tenderness she would want to cry, and then he'll lie down next to her, stroking her hair until she fell asleep, her fingers holding onto his shirt…

But none of that would happen, would it? He was dead, she was alone.

"Alone…" her mouth said in a whisper, as a strange chill spread through her body. A sob rose at the base of her throat. Slowly, she moved her hands and curled her numb fingers around his palm, which was cold as death.

It was so tempting to stop fighting, to stop struggling and die, to just give in to the white fog that was filling her head and drift…But she couldn't.

Curled asleep on her lap was the most precious thing in the world, her child. She looked down at her daughter, her tiny angel given to her in love.

Death was certain; her killers had made sure of that. How clever they were in plotting their death; either the miasma would end her, slowly, painfully, or the car will crash and burst into flames, incinerating the small family whole. It had taken all her power to protect her child from the death that was about to claim her. Now she was powerless, barely able to keep her eyes open. In that speeding car, holding her family in her hands, doomed to certain death, Hisane realized that she felt lonelier than ever before. So helpless, unable to protect the two people who meant everything to her, awaiting a painful death…There was nothing, absolutely nothing, she could do. No power in the world could save her. She didn't want to be saved. She deserved the worst death possible.

_I should have known…_Her tired eyes rested on the lifeless face on the driver's seat. Guilt squeezed her heart like an iron fist. Tears flowed down her bloodstained cheeks. _I shouldn't have gone against fate. I rebelled, and now, look what happened…_She gently stroked his hand, managing a wan smile.

_You were wrong, Takumi, There never was a happy ending..._

_Not for us._

Something made her look up and at the road ahead through her blurred vision.

Despite the darkening cloud she felt settling over her brain, she could make out the road illuminated by the streetlights, the hairpin bend approaching…

In a matter of time, the car would topple off the cliff, crashing down in a burst of flames, taking her and her family with it…

She gasped in terror. There was no way to stop the vehicle- the brakes had been tampered with. Frantically her mind raced, searching for some way to save her child. She scrunched her eyes shut, teeth gritting in concentration.

"Just this once..." she whispered desperately "Just this once, please!" A pink light appeared on her forehead which shined feebly in the form of a four leaved star. She raised a trembling hand and kept it steady over her child, trying hard to focus through her pain.

A thin film of silver appeared under her hand and hovered over the child like mist; and then it flickered and disappeared.

"NO!" White fog was blinding her, she had to fight...She raised her hand again, coughing up blood, using all her will to wrench her eyelids open. _She has nothing to do with this! She shouldn't be punished!_ Body trembling, she tried to concentrate through her pain, trying to conjure what was left of her powers. Darkness began to obscure her senses. She was losing control over her body. Brittle with exhaustion, she struggled to stay awake; she had to fight… _One last thing.._.She couldn't...

With a shuddering sigh, she felt her hand fall limply onto her lap.

"Yuki..." She murmured as she fell forward, eyes closing on their own accord. The car gave a violent jerk as it careened off the bend and over the drop.

In the end, all that remained were flames that danced in the dark, snowy night...

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**:**

**Author's note:** Thanks for reading! I hope you liked this chapter. I know it is short and doesn't have any mention of the inu characters in it, but I swear they'll start popping up from the next chapter onwards! REVIEW PLEASE!

_-Whimsicalscrawls_


	2. Glance

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters recognizable from the show. What I do own is the plot of the story and any OC that pops up. Enjoy reading!

**_...Where all roads meet..._**

* * *

_**Glance**_

_**...**_

_Tires screeched on the asphalt, emitting noises like the pained howls of a hurt animal. There was no sight; only sound, scent, touch and taste._

_Someone was holding her; she felt the touch of cold fingers. But her eyes were shut, she couldn't open them, she couldn't see, she couldn't move..._

_Who was that?_

_Where was she?_

_Suddenly there was turning twisting tumbling jolting, and a moment where nothing supported her but air..._

_And then she was falling, a steep, merciless fall into the heart of the abyss..._

_Screams died down in her throat as her arms flailed vainly, trying to hold on to something. When the impact finally came, it shook her body hard , breaking her bones and sending deep lines of pain down her form. A smell, piercing, pungent emanated from somewhere, for just one second._

_And then there was light and heat and the smell of flesh burning and bones melting and pain and pain and pain and pain..._

Yukiyo woke up with a start, gasping greedily for air to dislodge the scent of burning gasoline that suffused her senses. Her arms came around her, hugging herself to reassure that she was safe. _Just a dream just a dream just a dream, _she chanted to herself, her heart beating frantically against her chest. For a moment, she sat rooted to the spot, trying to calm down her speeding heart and taking deep breaths to relieve herself of the shock. With shaking hands, she reached to the right for the glass of water that was on her bedside table, only to grasp at air.

Slightly puzzled, she looked around, only to find herself in a different room than the one that she had expected to be in.

"Oh", she said after a moment's reflection._ Yeah...that's right, I moved here yesterday._ She reached for the glass of water on the bedside table to her _left_ and took a sip, feeling morose. _Way to start your new day in your new house, _she thought glumly, thinking back to her nightmare. _At least I didn't scream..._ She looked at the door, forehead creasing in thought.

_Did I scream?_

After noticing that the door was intact and her uncle was nowhere to be seen, donning his pajamas and wielding a frying pan on one hand and a baseball bat on the other like he did the last time, she came to the sensible conclusion that no, there has indeed been no screaming. She stretched and proceeded to untangle herself from her duvet.

_Been a while since I've had that dream._

Yukiyo's parents had died in a car crash ten year ago in Kanazawa, her hometown. The car had lost control and toppled off a high cliff, bursting into flames. By the time they were found, her parents' bodies were burnt so badly that they were unrecognizable. She had somehow escaped; miraculously, to say the least, and was found lying nearby, unconscious and uninjured save for a few cuts and bruises.

She sighed, looking into the mirror at the face framed with messy jet-black hair, slowly brushing her teeth._ Why am I thinking of all that now?_

She stepped out of the bathroom and went to the window. She took a deep breath, letting the fresh air fill her lungs, and stretched, taking in the view.

If there was one thing she liked about the house, it was the spacious backyard, filled with trees. She called it her 'mini- forest', though there was nothing 'forest-like' about the place- just a bunch of trees growing around an old ginkgo tree. But still there was this feeling of nostalgia that came with it; her little home in Kanazawa was filled with forests. She couldn't remember much of her childhood there, only the coldness of the forest, and...

She shook her head, trying to think of better things. It wasn't so bad, she decided, against a small pang of sadness that suddenly popped out from nowhere. She had her uncle, and she ought to be thankful for having him- he was as good as any parent, and she couldn't thank him enough for all the things he had done for her. She smiled softly.

Speaking of which, where was he?

She was about to go downstairs and look for him when she caught a slight movement from amidst the trees. Eyebrows raised in puzzlement, she watched her uncle climb down the ginkgo tree with difficulty.

"What the- What is he up to?"

He looked up and caught her eye, looking for a moment like a peevish little boy caught in the middle of stealing candy. Then he smiled broadly and beckoned her to the backyard. She frowned, but still a smile appeared on her face. Wondering what he wanted to show her, Yukiyo stepped downstairs, forgetting all about her gauche mood at the beginning of the day.

***:

Yukiyo stood on the soft brown earth of her new backyard, splashed with splodges of sunlight that filtered through the green leaves, surrounded by soothing bird songs and other soft sounds which faded into the background, trying to look irritated and sulky.

"Man, Shosei", she said, frowning at the huge ginkgo tree, from which two ropes were secured to a wooden board which dangled gently in the afternoon breeze. "You are embarrassing me."

"I thought you'd like it", Shosei said defensively from behind. "Once when you were little, you told me that you wanted a swing- set!"

"That was nine years ago!" She protested. "I'm in high-school now, for God's sake!"

Shosei laughed and ruffled her hair. "You'll always be my little girl, though." He said affectionately. Yuki couldn't help but smile. How she was going to miss him, this silly buffoon of an uncle, her guardian since she was six, her only family left in the world...Yuki sighed.

"Well, I hope you haven't twisted your ankle or anything." She said, pushing at the swing gently. "Thank you." She murmured, her eyes softening as she watched it dangle.

Yuki sighed. She turned back to look at him. He was simply standing there, arms crossed against his chest, gazing carelessly at something that had caught his interest. He shifted his gaze to look at her and broke a huge, warm grin. Yuki smiled back, trying to hold on to the moment, taking a mental photograph of her uncle as he stood in the sun, a grin slapped on his face, laughter lines around his eyes, grey creeping into his black hair, his twinkling green eyes...He looked older and wiser than when she first saw him, and yet he still had a carefree charm about him that was slightly unsettling.

"Mom's house sure is pretty..." She stated, looking back at the small building. "Sho," she said hesitantly, poking at the ropes of the swing again. "Hmm?" She heard him respond.

"Why did mom and dad go to Kanazawa anyway? Why didn't they just stay here? I mean, mom had a house here even..." She asked, carefully noticing, as she had many times before, the slight falter in his smile and the almost imperceptible twitching of a muscle in his lower jaw, that happened whenever she asked him of her parents.

"I don't know," he said, "Takumi and I weren't...you know, close." She watched as a shadow fell across his face, feeling sorry to have asked.

"It's just...sometimes I think, if they had stayed here, they wouldn't have...you know..." Her voice slightly cracked. She heard him sigh.

"I'm sure they had their reasons." He said. "It's not like we can predict if the decisions we take would ultimately have unpleasant consequences." He looked as if he were deep in thought.

"Sometimes we just have to close our eyes and take a giant leap of faith." He said quietly.

"Hmm..." Yuki concurred. She looked at her uncle, wondering what he was thinking. A gentle breeze blew through the backyard. Shosei crossed his arms against his chest.

"I still don't get why you wanted to come to this crowded hellhole of all places."

"It's the capital city, Sho", she sulked,"Show some respect."

"I mean, if you wanted to start High School, there were many good schools in Osaka", he said, walking forward and tugging at the ropes of the swing to check for their strength, "but still, you wanted to come here..." He turned back and looked at her with a smile. "Gettin' tired of old Shosei, heh?"

"It's not like that!" Yukiyo said pleadingly. "It's just that...this is the place mom used to live in, so I..."

"So?"

"Well, it's not like you wanna tell me much about her!", she cried, trying not to look at him. "Or your own brother, for that matter." Shosei sighed.

"What do you want to know about your mother?"

"Well, what was she like?"

"Haven't I told you already?"

"Tell me again", she said. Shosei sighed.

"Alright", he concurred, "Hisane was pretty mysterious...", he looked at the deep green foliage of the ginkgo tree. "Sometimes she did things without offering explanations to anybody...No one really knew her, that's for sure; maybe except your father. But I know this much- she was strong and kind and pure at heart." His voice was laced with admiration; she could feel it even though he had his back to her. "Some woman she was, your mother."

Shosei looked at her leaning against a tree with her gaze fixed on her feet. He knew that hearing about Hisane was her way of being close to the mother she had so few memories of. He even knew that was why she wanted to move in the first place. _She's a confusing one, alright, _he thought, looking at the young girl's dejected face. _It's like she takes decisions even she can't explain to herself. _

"Hey kid, dont'cha wanna try out this thing I spent the whole morning on?" He pushed at the swing for emphasis. She looked up and smiled at him, and sat down on the swing. She gently kicked herself off the ground and giggled as she lifted off.

"Thank you Sho", she said. "I love it."

_Perhaps that's how Hisane was too..perhaps that's how she did things..._Shosei watched her indulgently._ Perhaps she herself had no explanations to give..._

* * *

_:_

A motorbike came to halt in front of a large shopping complex. On it were two silver haired demons, apparently teenagers. The younger one got off first, taking off his helmet and running a clawed hand through his unruly silver mane. The dog –ears on top of his head twitched under a red and blue scarf tied around them. It was their monthly shopping trip again, and he couldn't help but twist his face into a frown, having to play the grating roles of trolley-puller and bag-carrier as his _half-_ brother oh-so-meticulously chose the items they needed. It was hell, and his only compensation was that Sesshoumaru was burning in it along with him.

His eyes drifted to the burger joint on the opposite side of the street. Inuyasha sniffed the air appreciatively, and his mouth started salivating reflexively. Oh how hungry he was...His stomach growled in agreement. Perhaps he could persuade his control- freak of a brother to let him grab a bite after the ordeal, namely shopping...Because let's face it, the thing was 'woman's work'; there was no way a strong and handsome demon such as himself would stoop so low to do such stuff! However, Sesshoumaru was perfect for the job; he was markedly less cooler than he was; hell, he even looked like a girl, with his pretty hair and his stupid demon markings...He even _cooked,_ for god's sake!

A piece of paper was forcefully thrust to his chest, causing him to stagger and fall backwards a little.

"Hey what the-! "

"These are the items we would require". Sesshoumaru remarked in a monotone. "And here is the money. I expect you to be done in an hour." This said, there was a loud roar of the ignition and Sesshoumaru was gone.

"WHAT THE HELL-?!" Inuyasha yelled out his protests after a moment of stupor, shaking a balled fist that held the crumpled shopping list at the direction in which his brother had gone. "You BASTARD! I AIN'T DOIN' NO FRIGGING_!"

A lady glared at him, covering the ears of her puzzled four-year old. Sparing her a sidelong glance, he smoothed the crumpled list and groaned, registering the enormity of the task.

"I'm gonna kill that mangy fleabag!", he muttered.

"Mommy, that man is funny!" Said the four year old to his mom.

"Dai...", his mother warned.

"Why does he have white hair? Is he a grampa?"

"Dai, that's rude!"

It was all he could do to not wheel around and give the kid a nice show of his sharp fangs, scaring, he hoped, the hell out of the little punk. So he settled for a warning growl, which apparently didn't ease his miseries at all.

"Look mommy, that man is growling like our doggy!"

"DAI!" The woman pulled the kid behind her, as if shielding him from the death glare the weird man was giving them. Inuyasha 'keh' ed and turned away.

Fuming silently and ignoring the stares of the bystanders, he stomped off to the shopping center, grabbing a trolley and pushing it down the aisles like it was his sworn enemy.

Sesshoumaru couldn't help but twist his lips into a triumphant half smile, imagining the face of his pissed off brother.

_Let him take some responsibility for once in his life. Not that I care anyway…_

The sky was a dull grey, just the way he preferred it. Sesshoumaru hated good weather, but most of the time the city offered little else. The merciless sun always appeared, stripping the sky off its grey tinge and cloaking it in a dishonest nursery blue, making the world look childlike and pure…

Sesshoumaru frowned. Of course it wasn't so…

What happened ten year ago was proof enough...

His eyes narrowed as he fought against the memories creeping into his brain. The fading light of the day, a maniacal laughter resonating through the forest, the mind numbing fear...A low growl emanated from his chest as he suppressed them fiercely, like he had done many times before.

They were of a distant past, another life. He didn't need them now. He didn't need them, ever. Nothing was here from his past, except maybe Inuyasha. Which was probably why he hated the hanyou so much. He was there, but he was spared, spared from the cruelties of it all; spared from what _he_ had to see, what _he_ had to experience. What happened that day was his burden. His alone to bear.

What happened that day, should be forgotten- like a bad dream. It was unreasonable to dwell upon dreams, and Sesshoumaru was all but an unreasonable man...

:***:

_Flour- check. Eggs- check. Veggies- check. Anddd…Juice- check._

Inuyasha smirked partly in relief, partly in triumph, as he had successfully completed picking up the stuff his brother had oh-so-neatly engraved on a piece of paper, which, imagining it was his brother, he had shred with his claws before crumpling it and throwing it in a nearby dust bin. For some reason, it gave him a strange sense of satisfaction. He had crammed every object into a single, overloaded trolley that looked dangerously close to bursting.

_That damn Sesshoumaru; havin' me do all the hard work, _he mused angrily. His stomach gave a low rumble. He hoped there would be enough money left to go buy a snack for himself but quickly stifled the thought, knowing how precise his brother was with monetary matters. In fact, he would be genuinely surprised if the balance was more than a 500 yen. He had to admit, Sesshoumaru was scary in a _lot _of ways.

His stride began to lengthen as he pushed the trolley faster. The front tires slipped and he corrected them clumsily, just in time to avoid hitting one of the shelves. He literally raced down the aisles, eager for the ordeal namely shopping to be over, not noticing someone pop out from behind the shelf and on his way.

The next second, the trolley gave a violent jerk and he barely registered someone flying onto the cold, hard floor.

"Ow!" There was a yelp, and cans of juice rained from a nearby shelf.

_Crap. _Inuyasha peered over to see the unfortunate victim rubbing her head, trying to get to a better sitting position on the floor amidst the cans.

The black haired girl glared at him, her nostrils flaring in a most peculiar manner.

"Aren't you going to apologize?" She demanded.

Inuyasha blinked. "What?"

The girl sighed in impatience."I _said_, aren't you going to apologize?"

"What the-? Why the heck should _I _apologize?" Inuyasha huffed defiantly. "It was your own fault you came prancing down and crashed into my trolley!"

"What?!" She gawped at him in disbelief and pulled herself up to a standing position.

"My fault? _My fault?!_ You come and hit me with your stupid trolley and all these cans fall over me and now it's _my fault?_"

"Heh, seems so", Inuyasha sneered, crossing his arms against his chest.

The girl blinked at him. "Uh! I don't _believe _this! You men are all the same, aren't you?"

Inuyasha's sneer vanished at once. "What did you say?"

She raised her chin defiantly. "You heard me." She remarked coolly. "All of you men are arrogant, self-centered morons who can't admit they're wrong! Even a retard can tell it was your fault but _nooo…_It is goddamn _beneath _you to apologize to a puny little girl even though you know it was YOUR FAULT!"

"It wasn't my fault you little-!"

"Was too..."

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

By now they had attracted the attention of everyone within hearing distance. Blissfully unaware of the fact that every eye around them was glued on them, they continued on.

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"WAS TOO!"

"WAS NOT!"

"_WAS TOOOOOO!"_ The girl screeched in a high pitched banshee like voice; Inuyasha cringed, feeling his sensitive ears flatten down on his scalp, "AND STOP _YELLING_!_" _

He probably would have applauded had she not been screaming his ears off. _Ears...Ow! Bleeding..._

"Kagome?" A soft female voice was heard. Inuyasha saw a dark haired woman looking at the girl in confusion. Kagome turned away from war with a smile on her face, her expression soft and sweet.

"Coming mama!", she chirped in a voice that completely belied her ferocity. Inuyasha blinked. _What the hell-? _She turned back to him with the earlier fierce look in her eyes.

"You", she jabbed a finger at his chest, "just got lucky, mister." With that, she spun around, nose in the air, and walked off towards her mother.

"What was that?" She asked Kagome.

"Oh, nothing...just some idiot trying to pick a fight." She said simply.

"Hey! What was that?!" Inuyasha hollered." Come here and tell me _who_ was tryin' to pick a fight! Come back here and finish this you wench! Who's gonna pick up all these cans from the floor?! HEYYYY!"

Inuyasha growled and fisted his hands in frustration, glaring daggers at the fellow shoppers who were indulgently eavesdropping._ Uh, this day just Keeps gettin' better!_ Trying to cool himself off, he began to clear up the mess of cans littered on the floor.

_I'll get you for this, wench!  
_

:***

The silver haired dog demon waited outside the shopping complex. Inuyasha was supposed to be done soon. As on cue, the mechanical doors opened and a very irked- looking hanyou stepped out, carrying two gigantic shopping bags and scowling at nobody. Sesshoumaru fought down a smirk. Inuyasha huffed and looked around, glaring as he caught sight of his elder brother. He stomped off towards the bike, pulling the bags along.

Damn asshole, Inuyasha thought. As expected, he was so precise with the money, barely two hundred yen was left. So much for the snack.

"You are seven minutes late, Inuyasha." His brother remarked, making a show of checking the sleek back watch fastened around his wrist.

"Well, bite me." He muttered angrily, securing the bags to the bike. "Where the hell have you been anyway?"

"Inuyasha, must you always poke your wet nose into matters that doesn't concern you?" Sesshoumaru inquired, noticing, to his slight displeasure, that the sun was slowly peeking out from the clouds. He was at the bank, but of course, the hanyou would live even if he didn't know.

"Fine, be that way! I won't give a damn if you get run over by a stupid train!"

"The sentiment is mutual, hanyou."

"Keh, whatever", Inuyasha managed as defiantly as he could over his rumbling stomach. Sesshoumaru 'hmph' ed and was about to kick start.

Just then, a black car sped by. Sesshoumaru raised his eyes, and for some reason, his gaze traveled to the window at a middle-aged man, and beyond him, for the smallest fraction of a second...His eyes widened.

The car sped past, raising a swathe of dust on it's path.

_That girl..._Sesshoumaru couldn't tear his gaze off the speeding car, glistening in the orange glow of the afternoon light. _Was that...?_

_"_Hey! Lessgo already! Ya dreaming?!" The hanyou rambled, effectively bringing him back to reality.

"Shut up, half breed."

With a speed that knocked back the surprised hanyou, Sesshoumaru sped out of the shopping complex, away from the memories that inched along the sides of his brain with long, probing fingers.

* * *

**Thanks a bunch to the lovely lady who reviewed! And also to the nice people who followed and favorite-d!**

**What do you think of this chapter? Review please! **


	3. Diablerie

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters recognizable from the show. What I do own is the plot of the story and any OC that pops up. Enjoy reading!

**_...Where all roads meet..._**

* * *

_**Diablerie**_

_**...**_

"Why Yuki, _why?"_, Shosei mourned, visibly slumping as he took in the number of stairs before him.

"What?" she asked innocently from one of the steps. "Hurry up already, Sho. We haven't got all day..." This said, she began to proceed excitedly through the steep climb of stairs leading to the shrine. "I wanted to come here the moment I saw this place on the internet! Supposedly it's a very ancient shrine..."

"What the hell is the point of all these steps?" Shosei mumbled to himself. "Wait up, girl!" He called out to her, and cursing fate, proceeded to climb up.

Yukiyo reached the top in high spirits, slightly out of breath. _The air here smells so fresh! _She breathed in happily.

"C'mon uncle! What's taking so long?" She called out from the top. Shosei climbed the last step huffing and panting.

"Oh!" He clutched his chest. "I think... I'm gonna..._heart attack_..."

"Some doctor you are...Can't even take a bit of exercise huh?", she mocked, her hands on her hips.

"...Oh yeah...? Shosei managed in between gulps of air. "Let's... hear you say that... twenty years from now..."She laughed and turned around.

"Look at that tree, Sho!" She pointed at the huge cherry tree growing a little away. "That's the _Goshinboku"s_he said. "It's supposedly been around for more than five hundred years or something."

"_God tree?" _Shosei raised his eyebrow.

She moved closer to inspect, looking up at the orange rays of the sunset filtering through the gaps in the deep green canopy. "Wonder why it's called that..." Shosei scratched absent mindedly at the stubble growing on his chin.

"Who knows? Beause of some old myth, maybe..."

"Do you know it hasn't bloomed for the past five hundred years?", Yukiyo said "It's April and all I see are a few buds here and there..." She inspected the small white buds, twenty at the most, scattered around in the branches. "All the other sakura trees we saw around are in full bloom..." Shosei raised an eyebrow and looked at the tree.

"There's probably a cock-and-bull story about that too..."

"Of course there is!" An excited voice was heard. "And it's not a story; it's the real thing!" They turned around to face an old man donning traditional clothes and grinning ear to ear.

"Welcome to the Higurashi shrine!" The old man enthused, possessing more energy than someone so stooped with age had any right to have.

"I am the shrine-keeper and head priest Higurashi Kuno, descendant of a great line of priests who rid Japan of many evils since the..." He paused suddenly and stooped over.

"Sir...?" Shosei stepped forward. Suddenly, the old man started coughing.

"Are you alright, sir?" Shosei inquired. Yukiyo looked uncertainly at the old priest who gave her a thumbs-up, despite emerging in a new bout of coughs.

"Would you like some water? Do you want to sit down?" She asked anxiously. The old man straightened up and wheezed heavily. His coughing stopped almost immediately.

"No need to fret", he proclaimed. "What you just witnessed was the Higurashi yogic breath that can cure any breathing disorder in a jiffy!"

_Seemed like you were struggling for air to me..._She looked uncertainly at Sho who seemed to be trying hard to suppress his laughter.

"So!" The old priest clapped his hands in excitement. "The young lady was wondering why the great Goshinboku hadn't flowered despite it being spring, correct?"

"U-uh?" Yukiyo stammered. "Well, I...?"

"Papa, what are you doing there?" A woman's voice was heard. They turned to see a woman with a bob cut, who seemed to be in her late thirties. Behind her was a pretty brown- eyed girl, apparently her daughter, who seemed the same age as Yukiyo. Both were holding really heavy- looking shopping bags. "Are you giving trouble to the -?" The woman stopped in mid-sentence, her gaze falling on Shosei. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"A-Are you," She looked at Shosei, "by any chance, Dr. Shosei Takihara?"

"Uh, yes, that would be me." Shosei smiled at her. "Do you know me from somewhere, madam?" The woman's eyes shone in admiration. Yukiyo spotted her tearing up slightly.

"Eh, this man over here is a _doctor_?" The old man scratched his bald head.

"Papa!" Sakura said in a warning tone. The old man gasped.

"He is the doctor who saved Kagome?!"

"Ehh…?" Yukiyo quipped intelligently, being pushed more into the background by the minute. _Suddenly it feels like I'm with a celebrity. _She stole a glance of her uncle, who looked as puzzled as she felt.

"My name is Sakura Higurashi, and this is my daughter, Kagome", the woman beamed. "You may not remember us, doctor, but you performed a heart surgery on Kagome twelve years ago. You saved her life, doctor..." Yuki watched, amazed as the woman wiped tears from the corner of her eyes. Kagome tenderly touched her mother's shoulders, looking worried.

"You agreed to perform the operation on her when nobody would, despite the risk. It was a miracle, an act of God, and my baby was cured..." Sakura sniffed. "All thanks to you, doctor..."

_Whoa. I knew Sho was good, but I had no idea he was _that _good..._Yukiyo turned to look at him.

Unless she was imagining it, she saw that there was hardness beneath his eyes. His hands shook slightly and he kept them hidden in his coat pocket. He was smiling, but his smile didn't quite touch his eyes. Something was not right. _What's the matter? He isn't usually like this..._

"You are praising me too much, Mrs. Higurashi..." Shosei broke a warm grin. "What can I say? Apparently God had great plans for little Kagome. How're you doing, Kagome?"

"I- I'm fine, sir..." Kagome piped shyly. "Mama had told me a lot about you, and how you worked so hard to save my life. I am forever grateful to you, sir."

"You're flattering me, Kagome." Shosei laughed, embarrassed. Yukiyo felt her breathing go down to normal. _I was imagining stuff...He's okay. _"Oh, and uh, this is my niece, Yukiyo." He gestured to her.

"Umm, hi...I am Yukiyo Takihara. It's a pleasure to meet you." Yuki bowed respectfully.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too Yukiyo." Sakura and Kagome bowed.

"Same here!" Grandpa Higurashi said.

"She's starting her high school at Chuusei next week." Shosei announced.

"Oh that's great! I'm joining Chuusei too." Kagome beamed. "Hope we are in the same class."

"Really? That's awesome. At least I'll have one person I know there..." Yukiyo smiled, taking an immediate liking to Kagome.

"It's been nice meeting you all but we really should get going now," Shosei said."Goodbye everyone. Come on, Yuki." He turned back and proceeded to the stairs. _But we haven't even seen the shrine yet! _Yuki pouted.

"Goodbye everyone. It's been nice meeting you all", she said. "I'm sorry we couldn't stay longer. Sho- I mean uncle- is leaving tonight to Osaka. He's in a bit of a hurry."

"I see", Mrs. Higurashi smiled. "Well, another time then, Yukiyo-chan."

"See you at school!" Kagome waved. Yukiyo smiled and turned back, racing down the stairs. She saw her uncle leaning against the black Volvo, seemingly deep in thought.

"Sho!" She tapped his shoulders, bringing him back to reality. "Did we really have to leave so soon? I didn't even get to explore the shrine."

"Come on Yuki, I have a long drive ahead of me", he said. She thought he suddenly looked tired.

"Are you okay? You look exhausted." She asked, concerned.

"I am fine. Now hurry up and get in the car." Yukiyo shrugged and opened the door, unable to shake off the unease that slowly crept into her heart.

* * *

:

It was already dark when Sesshomaru pulled up in front of the apartment building. Inuyasha gathered himself up with the shopping bags and marched inside, climbing two steps at a time. When he finally reached their apartment, he came to realize to his dismay that the keys were with Sesshomaru.

Growling in frustration, he dumped the bags onto the ground and threw himself against the wall, leaning on it.

Back in the parking lot, Sesshomaru took off his helmet and ran his fingers through his long silver tresses. For a moment, he stared right ahead. What was she doing here? After all these years?

"Oi, Sesshomaru! Hurry up already!" Inuyasha yelled at him from the third floor. Sesshomaru glowered in the direction of his brother whom he couldn't see.

_Brat. What did he know?_

Sesshomaru climbed up the stairs deliberately slowly. Once when he was a little boy, Inuyasha had summoned up the courage to ask him what had happened all those years back. He only remembered fragments; for instance, the smell of blood, sickly sweet. That day Sesshomaru had given him a look of such loathing that it was all the little hanyou could do not to burst into tears then and there.

Inuyasha hadn't brought up the subject since.

Sesshomaru reached his floor with his leather jacket draped over his arm and his helmet tucked underneath it. He placed the key on the lock and turned the knob to open the door, as if the half- demon was invisible to his eyes. Inuyasha scowled at him and made an obscene gesture behind his back.

"Inuyasha", the demon spoke evenly, opening the door. "I saw that."

The hanyou's blood ran cold. _He saw?! He actually saw?_ He scowled hard at the back of his brother's head, wondering if there were eyes hidden beneath his silver hair. Sesshomaru turned back and pinned the hanyou with his golden gaze.

"If you wish to keep your fingers intact, I highly suggest you not doing that in the future." He spoke indifferently, but Inuyasha could sense the undertone of danger that lurked beyond the words.

"Keh, what can you do, bastard?" Inuyasha tried not to let his voice falter. "We have laws in this place. You can't just 'run amok' like that."

"Perhaps.", Sesshomaru let his long fingers run casually through his hair. "But of course,", here he narrowed his eyes, his voice turning silkier, "accidents do happen". Inuyasha gulped. Did his brother just threaten to kill him? It seemed so.

"And by the way," Sesshomaru tilted his head towards the bags on the floor. "_those _aren't going to come in by themselves." With that he entered the apartment, leaving a furious hanyou in his wake. _I'm gonna get him for this..._Inuyasha thought darkly. _You'll see, bastard..._

Sesshomaru dropped the keys onto the counter and hung his jacket. Inuyasha stomped past to abandon the bags. From the far end of the apartment came a high pitched squeal, followed by the patter of footsteps. A petite figure scampered up to him and launched itself on his legs, hugging them tightly.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" The little girl squealed in delight, her chocolate brown eyes shining. Sesshomaru's eyes softened.

"I hope you've been good, Rin." Rin grinned widely.

"I have been at my best, my Lord!" She insinuated with a salute.

Inuyasha entered his room and rolled his eyes, seeing Sesshomaru trying to pry the little girl's fingers from around his legs. Sesshomaru glowered at him as he took off to his room, slamming the door shut. Rin released the grip on his knees.

"I've made a picture of you, my lord. Would you like to see it?"

Sesshomaru gave her a slight nod.

"Yay!" Rin smiled and scurried to her room. Sesshomaru felt his lips curl into a smile as he made his way towards the little girl's bedroom.

o.o.o.o.o.o

"Itadakimasu!" Rin beamed, her chopsticks poised. They were sitting down or dinner. Inuyasha wolfed down like he had been starving for days while Rin chewed leisurely, enjoying the food with gusto. Sesshomaru, being a demon, didn't need to eat frequently. The same went for sleep. He could go without sleep for days, but slept all the same to keep himself fresh and alert. He sat down on the table, watching Rin as she blew at a spoon of miso soup to cool it before putting it in her mouth, cautious as to not let it spill. She raised her face and smiled when she caught his eye. Almost immediately he was reminded of another little face which lit up when she smiled. Sesshomaru frowned. What was she doing here, after all those years?

He thought about the scent that wafted through the air at the shopping complex and closed his eyes, breathing out softly.

The old, fading image of a little girl peering up at him through a gap in the flowered branches of a cherry tree flashed into his mind.

_How did you get up there?_

There it was again, that tightness in his chest. Hidden memories screaming for acknowledgement. Sesshomaru breathed out sharply, clenching his fists. _Why now? _He narrowed his eyes. _What is she doing here? _An unreasonable hatred welled up inside him. He wasn't supposed to see her again. He wasn't supposed to come across _anything _that had anything to do with his past again.

It doesn't matter, he told himself. She meant nothing - just some little girl he had met once or twice in Kanazawa. It was unreasonable to dwell upon such trivialities. Especially since he wasn't a hundred percent sure it really was her.

Besides, he was probably never going to see her again.

Sesshomaru breathed a little easier. He looked up just the moment when Inuyasha raised his eyes from his food. The hanyou glowered at him. _Gahh! Every time I set my eyes on him, I just wanna throttle the bastard!_

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes. _Insufferable pest. _He gave him a stare that could make the Sahara freeze over. _How we could have the same father, I cannot fathom. _Inuyasha, unwilling to lose, replied with a fiery glare of his own. The tension in the air increased steadily, neither brother flinching. Even Rin stopped eating and looked from Inuyasha to Sesshomaru. Invisible sparks were flying everywhere.

_Jackass,_Inuyasha clenched his teeth.

_Ignorant fool,_Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes.

They both averted their gazes at the same time, Inuyasha with a 'huff' and Sesshomaru with a 'hn'. Rin smiled, used to the brothers' antics, helping herself to another rice ball.

* * *

:

"This sucks", Yukiyo opined, sniffing back the tears which threatened to escape her eyes. Once again she found herself curled up in fetal position on her bed in the dark, trying to fight off loneliness.

_Damn__._ She sniffed again. _Can't believe I'm really crying because he left..._

Shosei had left shortly after they had returned from the shrine, speeding off in the black Volvo.

"_Be careful, Yuki", _he had said with a solemn look on his face. "_And don't sit cooped up in the house for long. Get out, meet people, especially your neighbors. Try to be in good terms with them. And always, and I know it is hard for you, but always, stand up for yourself." _He left in a hurry and for some reason, she felt as if he had abandoned her. She had thought he'd change his plans the last minute and stay with her for a couple of days, at least till she got used to the place.

_But that's stupid. I'm the one who wanted to come here. _She told herself.

_But he didn't put up much of a fight, did he?_ A taunting voice in her mind said, _The moment you said you wanted to go, he began packing your suitcases. Why do you think it was so? _ The voice sneered. _He was fed up with you being a burden to him! He wanted to get rid of you the first chance he got!_

Yukiyo tensed. Was that really what he wanted? Was he so eager to be rid of her? Perhaps it was true. But who could blame him?

_It's not like he's__...__ my dad... or anything; he's just my uncle..._

She went up to the window and slid it open, breathing in the fresh air. She let her eyes rest upon the darkness in her little forest for a while. She reached inside her blouse and pulled out her lucky charm. It was a silver crescent moon pendent hanging by a long, thin silver chain. She couldn't remember who had given it to her; all she could remember was the vague memory of her mother saying she should never, ever, take it off. _Mom..._She sighed and rested her hands on the windowsill, burying her head in them. _I really wish you and dad were still alive..._

_Did Sho really want to abandon me?_

She took a deep breath and straightened, extending her neck to look up at the sky. She had read somewhere that the particular posture helped develop positive feelings. As she did so, she looked up at the night sky. There was a star shining in a peculiar reddish shade.

_Come on, _she thought to herself. _This is Sho I'm talking about. He'll never abandon me. I just have to believe it._

Her eyes widened a little as the star brightened a little, as if agreeing with her. She smiled to herself and closed the window, pulling the drapes across it.

* * *

:

The discotheque blared with electric music, drumming against his eardrums. It wasn't comfortable to be so near a nightclub, especially in his weakened state, but it was convenient in its own way.

"Quite a handsome one, isn't he?", his silky voice said. The woman standing behind him gulped, fear evident in her red eyes. Her hands clutched her paper fan tighter as she vainly tried to keep her face devoid of any emotion. She gazed at the unconscious man on the floor, his long, curly hair pooling around his frame.

_What is he going to do to him?_ She looked at the figure draped in a white fur coat, his back turned to her. She scanned the area- nobody was around. The blaring noise of the disco effectively drowned out any sounds that the victim could make. Inside, people were dancing and enjoying themselves, not caring what happened in the alley behind it. Her heart raced as he began to shrug off the baboon coat- Naraku never showed himself without the coat. She watched, curious despite herself, wondering how he really looked like. With a smooth shrug, the coat slid off his shoulders.

Kagura retched and tried not to vomit. The form before her was humanoid, a sickly grey color, it's skin coated in a thin layer of slime, as if it's body was dissolving. The skin was peeled off at several places, revealing chunks of hardened brown flesh and even the hint of bones. Tentacles erupted from a bruised spider mark on the back, dark and menacing. He took a step towards the man on the floor.

"You have to be awake for this, Kagewaki.", he said softly, bringing his foot to tap at the unconscious man's cheek. The man groggily opened his eyes, trying to make sense of his surroundings. His eyes widened in fear, as his bleary vision focused upon the specter before him.

"Oh- oh my god! Who- what are you?!" He tried to scramble to his feet. "Somebody help! HELP!"

Kagura watched in horror as a tentacle wrapped around the hapless victim's throat and pulled him towards Naraku. He struggled in vain as more tentacles circled his wrists and ankles. One strong tug pulled him towards Naraku's body, and then all was quiet.

Kagura watched as the tentacles withdrew into the spider mark. Naraku fell down to the ground with a sickening thud. The man, Kagewaki, was standing, his crimson eyes gleaming with malice. A smirk marred his handsome face as he looked at the discarded body on the floor.

"The irony of it all is that I cannot take a demon body." He flexed his limbs. "A mortal body is too weak to contain my soul, and so I have to resort to _this _every few years_."_ He picked up the baboon coat from the ground and draped it around him as he walked past the woman.

"I'll leave you to deal with the body, Kagura",

He looked at the inky black sky, at a star that shone in red above.

_It has begun_.

An unreadable expression gleamed in his eyes. He smirked and disappeared into the darkness of the night, leaving a thoroughly startled Kagura alone with the grotesque, deformed corpse.

* * *

**_Thanks for reading!_**

**_I have been toying with the idea of this story for a long time. I was like, "I absolutely positively MUST write it down". This story is the only reason I joined ff net. I write, I read it over and over again so that I correct any mistakes I make...I just spent more than fifty percent of my two-week vacation in front of the computer so that I can update as much as I can before college starts._**

**_Now that my vacation is over, I donno when I'll get a chance to update. But all I know is that I will NEVER abandon this story._**

**_REVIEW PLEEEEAASSSEEE! I'm desperate!_**


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